About Me

Monday, 14 March 2016

By The Left, Quick March

One of those
odd coming together of items in the news.
There was the parade of the Gurkhas in Aldershot, being given the
Freedom of the District of Rushmoor. The
other was the attempt to slag off Dan Jarvis, Labour MP for Barnsley, a former
military man and contender for leadership of the Labour Party.

Barnsley is
famous for many things, lesser known ones being that the Light Dragoons and The
Yorkshire Regiment both have The Freedom of the Borough, inherited from the
former 13/18 Hussars and The York and Lancaster Regiment.

The latter was
one of the two regiments in 1968 that disbanded rather than being merged with
another. The other, for whom honour mattered
more than civil service practicalities was, of course, The Cameronians.

In the first
World War Barnsley had two Pals Battalions, 1st and 2nd, the 13th and 14th York and Lancaster's who
were as good as any. They were at the
Battle of the Somme in 1916, and in the same sector as grandad.

This day in 1916 from a war diary spells it out in detail. The Labour Party in Parliament these days has
very few with military experience and arguably even fewer from the old working
class. The Party of Major Attlee, a
brave and gallant soldier, and many others are ghosts of the past from whom
their successors shrink.

It is 200
years this year since the Gurkha's first swore loyalty to the King of England
in the shape of King George III, then sadly in the grip of dementia and via the
offices of the Honourable East India Company.

This was after
a military expedition had gone into Nepal in 1815 to stop the raiding of the tribes and
to extend British authority. The
Quartermaster to the force was Edward Cairncross Sneyd whose younger sister,
Harriet, who married well, turns up often in Burke's Peerage.

Today The
Gurkhas are an important part of our defence capability, and the leaders of any
part ought to recognise this and of the many implications. While there is an outside chance that Cameron
may be dimly aware, albeit being very confused about Cameronians, but the
present high command of the Labour Party will know and care little.

Perhaps Dan
Jarvis can spell it out to them. If a
parade ground could be made available for the occasion it might give them a
taste for the military.